House endorses controversial change on building codes, 52-16; sends to Senate
The House has voted 52-16 in favor of HB 547, Rep. Joe Palmer’s bill to forbid local communities from adopting any residential building code provisions that are more up-to-date or more stringent than those adopted by a state board. “It clarifies legislative intent … so that we have an equal and level playing field all across the state of Idaho,” Palmer told the House. “Right now if you’re building in this valley there’s about 12 different types, I would say different locations that have different permit structures and schedules that you have to work through, it’s pretty hard for a contractor to know exactly when he crosses the line ... which type of permit he has to deal with.” He said, “This is the best way to go.”
Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, spoke against the bill. “I feel that this body very often oversteps its bounds in terms of squashing local governments while paying lip service ... to local control,” she said. “Local governments know what they need for their communities. … They need to be able to craft building codes to respond to that.” She added, “I believe most if not all of the cities throughout the state oppose this.”
Palmer countered, “The only people that have had any problems with this whatsoever are the actual building officials that do the inspections. … All this does is make sure we’re going to have consistent code across the state of Idaho.”
But in the public hearing on the bill on Tuesday, builders, architects and local officials from across the state urged strongly against it, as did the state association of fire chiefs. The bill is being pushed by a southwestern Idaho building contractors’ group.
Andrew Bick, chairman of the state Building Code Board, told the House Business Committee that the board was divided 4-3 in favor of the bill, which he said shifts Idaho from having a “low-bar standard” from which local jurisdictions can vary, to a “high-bar standard for the state,” which local areas can’t exceed. “I do feel what we need to do is have collaboration,” Bick told the committee. “I don’t feel like this bill has done that.”
All 11 House Democrats voted against the bill today; they were joined by five Republicans: Reps. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls; Marc Gibbs, R-Grace; Ryan Kerby, R-New Plymouth; Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley; and Jarom Wagoner, R-Caldwell. The bill now moves to the Senate side.
